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A review by earlyandalone
Pandora's DNA: Tracing the Breast Cancer Genes Through History, Science, and One Family Tree by Lizzie Stark
5.0
Pandora's DNA is both an incredibly personal story and a medical history. Stark opens with the "family curse"--her mother's side of the family's battle against breast cancer. As she recounts generations of her family succumbing to this devastating disease, Stark also chronicles the advances in medical screening and surgery, from the draconian Halsted mastectomies to contemporary one-step mastectomy and reconstruction.
Though reading about these procedures and the traumatic effects is daunting, Stark's narration is deft and even-handed. She renders complicated genetics and lawsuits understandable to those of us lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the disease and the mutation of the BRCA gene, a mutation Stark learns she's inherited from her mother, who herself battled breast cancer when Stark was only an infant. She is forced to make a harrowing choice--live in constant fear in the shadow of breast cancer with regular invasive screenings, or suffer a double mastectomy, cutting off her healthy breasts in order to stave off the risk of early death. She chooses the latter, and leads us through each step of the way with grace and humor and honesty.
This book is informative, poignant, and telling--a must-read for any woman who's struggled or wondered about the specter of breast cancer.
Though reading about these procedures and the traumatic effects is daunting, Stark's narration is deft and even-handed. She renders complicated genetics and lawsuits understandable to those of us lucky enough to be unfamiliar with the disease and the mutation of the BRCA gene, a mutation Stark learns she's inherited from her mother, who herself battled breast cancer when Stark was only an infant. She is forced to make a harrowing choice--live in constant fear in the shadow of breast cancer with regular invasive screenings, or suffer a double mastectomy, cutting off her healthy breasts in order to stave off the risk of early death. She chooses the latter, and leads us through each step of the way with grace and humor and honesty.
This book is informative, poignant, and telling--a must-read for any woman who's struggled or wondered about the specter of breast cancer.